Visions of Greatness
by catthegreat
Summary: The quietest room on the earth is at Orfield Laboratories in South Minneapolis. It blocks out 99.99% of all sounds, causing a person to go insane in less than 45 minutes. The Konoha Laboratories in Tokyo, Japan is now hell-bent on breaking both records. And with a new anachoic chamber built, they think they have the perfect candidate for the job.


_ The quietest room on the earth is at Orfield Laboratories in South Minneapolis. It blocks out 99.99% of all sounds, causing a person to go insane in less than 45 minutes by seeing hallucinations and hearing their heartbeat. (1)_

The Konoha Laboratories in Tokyo, Japan had been working to make the quietest anechoic chamber in the world when the announcement that the Orfield Laboratories in the United States had already accomplished that mission. It took them a full year to finish theirs, but in the end it beat the 99.99% by taking it out on further percentile: 99.991%. Now they only had one more record to beat: the 45 minutes. The Japanese scientists believed the Americans to be too used to loud noises, too reliant on sound to truly enjoy the tranquility. To ensure they were truly the best, they wanted to find someone who could stay inside longer.

The perfect candidate needed to be someone with little to no psychological trauma in their past. The person had to be of above average intelligence and know something about the record they were trying to break. Sasuke Uchiha, one of the lead sound engineers of the group, was the ideal person for the job.

He was quiet in general, didn't talk about his past, was extremely intelligent, and passionate in his own way about breaking the record. In fact, the lead scientists for the project knew he was perfect by his reaction to the recommendation.

"Sasuke," the lead engineer, Orochimaru said. "You've been nominated as the test subject in the quiet room."

"Hn."

The announcement was made official the next day.

A few weeks later, the test was set up. A reporter for the Guiness Book of World Records arrived, as did everyone who was a part of the project from day one. They were all there to support the success and cheer for the young Uchiha. Orochimaru couldn't be more proud of his young protégé.

The older engineer had adopted the Uchiha at a young age after he discovered he could never have children. He'd gone to the shelter and found the child, name already chosen for him, and fallen in love immediately. He made it his life goal to raise Sasuke with no pressure on him to follow in his own footsteps, and the child had lived a happy, yet quiet life. Until today, Orochimaru had never been more proud of Sasuke than the moment the young Uchiha had announced his desire to follow in his footsteps and become an engineer.

So when the moment came to lock Sasuke in the quiet room, he made sure he was the last one there to wish his adopted son good luck. "You don't have to stay in there any longer than 46 minutes. Our goal is one hour, but if you can't handle it any longer, just knock three times on the door." He held out his hand and accepted the cell phone and iPod the raven handed him. "Regardless, we _will_ open it in one hour. Do you understand?"

"Hn."

"Sasuke."

"Yes, father. I understand."

"Good luck, Sasuke." He called as he watched the child who was, for all intents and purposes, his son walk through the door and close it behind him.

* * *

At least it wasn't dark. That was the first thought Sasuke had upon entering the room. He could handle the dark and the silence well, but he knew from his psychology minor that both would cause him to lose himself sooner, which wouldn't be good when trying to break a record.

They had also provided a chair, not a particularly comfortable one, but a chair nonetheless. He appreciated that as well; standing or sitting on the floor for an hour would've been terribly uncomfortable. Small comforts would assure the success of the mission.

He settled down in the chair, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. After years of research, he could use a nap.

The deafening sound of something pounding awoke Sasuke sometime later. He glanced around wildly for a moment trying to discover the source of the sound. There was no way anything could be making sounds in the room; it was the quietest place on the planet.

Finally, a thought occurred to him, and he placed his hand over his left chest.

_Boom boom. Boom boom._

It was his heart. Sasuke calmed his internal panic. This was to be expected, wasn't it? After all, he'd studied just this phenomenon when researching doing the record himself. He wasn't concerned by the sound anymore, but he could no longer fall asleep. He didn't have a watch either, so he had no idea how long he'd been in the room. (2)

This was going to be a long project.

* * *

It wasn't long after discovering the pounding heartbeat that he started to notice a rushing sound. He threw his hands over his ears, internally chanting 'make it stop, make it stop', but it just got louder. Sasuke frowned and took his hands off.

Quieter.

He put them back on.

_Louder._

He was hearing _his own blood rushing into his head_. This was fucking crazy. You can't _hear_ that. Hearing could only occur when sound waves struck against the middle ear, causing the bones to vibrate before sending the signals to his brain. If the sounds were coming from inside his body, then _how were the sound waves pushing against the bones in his middle ear_? (3)

He was going insane. He had to get out. Who the fuck cared if they didn't break the record anyways? They broke one of them, they didn't need both. It was selfish really. Sasuke stood up, lost his balance, and fell over completely. Fuck.

"Giving up so soon, little brother?"

Sasuke looked up. Who the fuck was talking? Nobody was supposed to be in this room except him.

But someone was there. He was slightly taller than Sasuke, but resembled him slightly. He had longer dark raven hair, and the same facial shape. The differences were his red eyes and sharp cheek-bones. He also seemed to be wearing something weird; a dark black tank covered with a padded white one, black pants, sandals, and a strange bag. Sasuke also noticed an odd circular tattoo on his left shoulder.

"Who are you?"

The man cocked his head. "What? Forget me already, little brother?"

"I…I don't have a brother."

"Of course you do. Who do you think killed your clan?" He leaned closer to the still lying down raven. "Who do you think murdered your parents?"

Sasuke struggled to sit up. "I don't have parents. I have a father, and he's all I need."

The other laughed, a sharp cruel sound. "You would tell yourself that. I can see now how you've coped; you created a world for yourself."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Whoever you are, you need to get out of here. There is a record we are trying to break."

"Foolish little brother, I'm Itachi. Itachi Uchiha." He smiled widely as Sasuke finally managed to pull himself into an upright position. "Did you forget all about the village too? Your mind has locked you up so much you no longer wish to hunt me down and defeat me…"

"What village? We're in _Tokyo_. I never lived in a village."

"The village of Konoha, of course."

Sasuke smirked. Here, he had answers this strange hallucination – he had determined that there was no way this 'Itachi' was anything more than a figment of his imagination – didn't have. "Konoha," he started slowly, "is a laboratory. A place of _science_, not a village." (4)

"Science is nothing, little brother. There are three things you need to know: ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu."

"Stop calling me 'little brother', I don't have a brother and if I did he wouldn't appear in a ridiculous hallucination…" He glanced at the ground, willing the apparition to disappear.

"Shall I call you Sasuke, then? Or is there some other way I can prove this is more than a hallucination?"

"Anything I know a figment of my imagination would know too. There's no way to prove anything."

"Does that mean you don't want to know what happened to our parents, young Sasuke?"

"I told you already," he whispered. "I don't have parents. I only have a father."

"Who? Orochimanru? Yes, a pedophile obsessed with power is an _excellent_ guardian for you."

Sasuke's head snapped back toward Itachi. "Orochimaru is a good man, Itachi. He would _never_ hurt anyone."

"What about that Kimimaru fellow?"

"That was a misunderstanding and was corrected immediately! I know him! He would never hurt anyone!"

"He wanted that boy for his body in more ways than one, little Sasuke, and after that went to shit he set his eyes on the Uchiha clan. First it was me, now it's you."

"Liar."

"You don't have to believe me, little brother."

"I won't. Your lies piss me off." Sasuke used the chair to struggle into a standing position, irritated that a hallucination caused so many problems already.

"Stay in your pathetic dream-world then, Sasuke. You need more hate before you can go against me anyways."

The younger Uchiha sat back in his chair and allowed his head to drop into his hands. "You don't even make sense," he mumbled as Itachi disappeared.

* * *

He didn't know how long Itachi was gone. It could've been seconds, but it felt like hours. Either way, the constant rushing and pounding sounds was enough to make him want out of the room. Now. He tried counting them for a bit, coming up with a method of telling time based on his heartbeat. That all failed with a second apparition.

"Sasuke!"

Jesus Christ this one was loud.

"Hey Sasuke! Hey!"

Maybe if he ignored it, it'd go away.

"SASUKE!" This was completed with a bump against him, and Sasuke found himself on the floor once more.

Wait. On the floor? A hallucination couldn't shove him over…could it?

"Hey are you even listening to me?"

"Hn."

"Bastard!"

The nickname caused him to raise his head. A blond man, same age as him, was staring at him with azure blue eyes. He held out his hand, and Sasuke warily took it. He felt himself pulled completely forward, landing face-to-face against a bright orange tee-shirt.

"Whoops," the man said, and the Uchiha was placed straight upright. "Sorry about that." The guy grinned and scratched the back of his head.

"Loser," Sasuke finally replied. "How did you do that?"

The blond scowled. "Don't call me a 'loser', Sasuke-bastard. And do what?"

"Well, loser seems an apt name since I haven't been graced with your persona yet." He ignored the question from the blond and instead smirked as the sarcasm of the words sunk in.

The blond didn't seem to notice the sarcasm, unfortunately, and simply managed to look concerned. "You don't remember my name? Tsunade said you might not…" He trailed off, chewing on his lips and for the flash of a second, Sasuke could swear the blond loser transform into a younger version of himself, leaning over Sasuke in what appeared to be a hospital. But then he blinked and it was gone; he was back in the anechoic chamber with a twenty-something year old hallucination.

"I'm Naruto, since you forgot." The other stuck out his hand, and Sasuke shook it. He was shocked to note that he could actually feel the other's hand in his; it was rough, as though from working outside, and felt slightly smaller than it appeared to him. The fact he could touch something created by his mind sparked something in him, and he decided it wouldn't hurt to talk.

"And what are you doing in this anechoic chamber, Naruto?"

The blond screwed up his face in confusion and the younger version appeared once more. "Ane…an…a…"

"Anechoic. Means things in here don't echo."

If it were possible for the man/boy to look more confused, he did. "What are you talking about, Sasuke? We're in a hospital. You were brought here after your brother attacked you in that hotel-thing…"

"For the love of…I don't have a brother! Why don't you idiots understand this? First Itachi, now you. I have no brother. I have no parents."

Stupid hallucinations. He would've thought his mind would've at least made sense when creating them in the first place.

"I know you don't, Sasuke," a small voice sounded. The Uchiha looked up and saw the younger version of Naruto once more in a white room. The blond was staring intently at the bedsheets – no the floor! He was in the chamber still!

"I know you don't have any family. Just like me. You were seeking revenge on your brother, remember?"

"Why would I seek revenge on a brother that doesn't exist?!" He grabbed the front of Naruto's shirt, noticing the soft feel of the orange material. "I am a sound engineer at Konoha Laboratories! I made this chamber! It took me years to reach the level I am at now!" He didn't know why he was yelling things to this hallucination; it should already know this.

"Engineer?" The blond cocked his head to the side. "What's an engineer?"

"It's a person who designs and builds things, idiot. You need at least four years at a major university to become one."

"Four years? University? I don't think…" Naruto got a sudden shocked expression on his face. "Sasuke how old do you think you are?"

"I'm 25, not that I need to tell you; you should already know."

"Sasuke. We are _thirteen_."

"Bullshit."

"Look at yourself."

Wanting to prove the other wrong, Sasuke glanced down at himself. A smaller form mostly covered by a white sheet, with an IV sticking out his left inner elbow greeted him. Shocked, he dropped the blond, who never changed back to his older form. After blinking furiously a few times, the room returned to the chamber he'd remembered creating.

"Get out."

"What?"

"However you got in here, I want you to leave."

"Sasuke…wait…"

"NOW!"

By the time he looked up again, Naruto was gone.

* * *

The disappearance of the blond did nothing to stop the hallucination's influence. He kept having random memory flashbacks to impossible events. And he knew they were impossible because 1) Konoha wasn't a village and 2) ninjutsu and other such arts were physically impossible according to the laws of nature he _knew_ existed because he'd _studied_ them in the university.

But no. He kept seeing the blond, some white-haired man with a mask and one eye, a pink-haired girl, and a lot of other people he'd never seen before in his life. He watched them go on missions together. He remembered the feel of his body after a hard day of training, the sting of the needles that pierced him when he tried to save Naruto, the annoyance of when Sakura – the pink-haired girl – would cling to him. Hell, he could even remember the _smell_ of the trees around the ninja village he grew up in.

He didn't know when he stopped doubting the truth Naruto told him, but he did know the memories were too strong. His vision stopped flashing between the hospital and the chamber, and soon stayed permanently in the hospital. He didn't know how he could possibly think he was 25, when he was clearly 13. And how could he be stuck in a small room for that long anyways? Days passed and soon he found the desire to defeat Naruto overwhelm his senses, and they were fighting on a rooftop. Next thing anyone knew, he left the village to train with Orochimaru and become strong enough to kill Itachi. He left Naruto at the Valley of the End and all thoughts of being in a quiet room disappeared completely from his mind.

Being with Orochimaru was rewarding in its own way, Sasuke supposed. He was able to get stronger faster than he had been in the village when training with Naruto. But after three years, the desire to defeat the brother who had once told him he needed more hatred overwhelmed his senses.

Now he could slaughter hundreds on a whim; he was no longer weak. What was weakness to an Uchiha? He would show Itachi the true meaning of strength. But how? He needed to prove it somehow.

A brilliant thought came into his mind.

This was his revenge. He needed to do it with his own strength, in control of his own body. And Orochimaru, strong and impressive though he was, was now weaker than Sasuke. Though being one of the legendary Sannin, that didn't make him a pansy by any means. Still, if Sasuke could kill him that would prove he was strong enough to challenge Itachi.

It was nothing personal, of course. It was just something he needed to do.

Something appeared in his peripheral vision, and he looked around to find himself in a dim room with a single chair. What the hell? He blinked and found himself back in the cave. Good. That was weird.

Someone knocked on something, and he found himself back in that room. Shit. He was hallucinating, and Orochimaru was on his way. Well, fantasy was partly based on reality, wasn't it? He grabbed one leg of the chair and broke it off. A few blinks later he was back in the cave, where he belonged, holding his sword. He sent a rush of chakara down it and the sword crackled with lightning. He was standing outside the door where Orochimaru was laying, probably taking some medications for whatever sickness this body had.

"Sasuke?" He called out.

"Yes?"

"Are you ready to go now?"

Ah. So they were moving camps again. Whatever, he would rid the world of this pedophile before they would have the chance.

The door creaked open. It turned back into the door of the strange room with the broken chair. He shook his head to rid himself of the vision, but it didn't leave. Regardless, the face which poked in was Orochimaru's. He would kill the other man, vision or not.

Sasuke charged forward, sharp end of the broken chair leg aimed at the older man's heart, and just before he struck, he found himself back in the cave. Orochimaru was struck in his heart and died almost instantly. Sasuke smirked. Mission accomplished.

Who's weak now, Itachi?

His eyes were playing tricks with him, though, because he could swear he kept seeing flashes of the older man on the floor of a hallway just outside the chamber. He shrugged and stepped over it, ignoring the screaming and scrambling of the people in the area.

At the same time, he was also leaving the cave, finally entering sunlight which he hadn't seen in days. Damn, traveling with a criminal was tough.

His peripheral vision danced between large buildings and cliff faces as he walked away. It didn't matter though. All that mattered was killing his brother. His bloodied hand gripped the chair-sword tighter. Yes, everything would be fine once he found Itachi.

* * *

**Footnotes: **_(1) google this and you'll find a bunch of articles on it from 2012. my source is dailymail . co . uk /sciencetech/article-2124581/The-worlds-quietest-p lace-chamber-Orfield-Laboratories . html  
_

_(2) heart thing can be found at source above as well_

_(3) googled how hearing works. used the about . com article. it's a lot more complicated than the fanfic makes it sound, so if you want to know the real sciency way, then you should also look it up. there are a shit ton of sites dedicated to it._

_(4) oddly enough i did some research and hallucinations occur in the actual world's quietest chamber. creepy, i know. _

* * *

**AN: **_So this was random. As per usual, if you have any complaints of any kind, comment or message me and I'll change it. And because this happens with every one-shot I write...I will not be continuing this. This was written purely to show I don't always need to put a pairing in a story. I hope you enjoyed it enough to drop a review! They improve my writing and moods._


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